THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – A late rally fell just short as the Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team lost a 105-103 shootout against No. 4-ranked Whitman College at the California Lutheran Holiday Classic on Friday, Dec. 28, in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
In a game that had 12 ties and 14 lead changes, the loss sends the Titans to an 8-4 record this season while the Blues, who average 104.4 points per game, won for the fifth straight time and improved to 9-1.
It is the first 100+ game for IWU since a 123-point output against Rhodes in November 2017 and the 103 points is the most in a loss for an Illinois Wesleyan team since the 1988 postseason 106-103 defeat at Ohio Wesleyan.
Illinois Wesleyan shot a season-best .618 from the field (42 of 68) and made 10 of 19 from 3-point range (.526). IWU was nine of 16 from the free throw line while Whitman made 29 of 35 free throws (.829). The Blues shot .542 from the floor (32 of 59), an opponents' high against IWU this season, and were 12 of 27 (.444) in 3-pointers.
Five players scored in double figures for the Titans, led by senior
Brady Rose with 25 before fouling out with 1:53 to play.
Senior
Colin Bonnett had 17 and sophomore
Doug Wallen added 12. Senior
Jason Gregoire scored 11 points and had a team-best six rebounds and freshman
Matthew Leritz scored 11.
Sophomore
Grant Wolfe handed out a career-high nine assists.
Whitman also had five in double figures, led by 29 from Jack Stewart and 17 from Darne Duckett. Austin Butler had a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Titans committed 18 turnovers that led to 26 points for the Blues.
In the second half, the game was tied at 82, 88, 93, 97 and 100. Bonnett's 3-pointer gave IWU a 103-102 lead with 32 seconds left but Joey Hewitt responded with a 3-pointer, his only one of the game after missing his first three tries, with 23 seconds remaining. A last second shot by Bonnett in heavy traffic fell just short.
Illinois Wesleyan trailed by as many as 11 in the first half at 42-31 with 7:27 left before going on a 9-0 run to close to within two at 42-40 at the 5:11 mark. The game was tied at 48, 50 and 52 before a Wolfe 3-pointer at 1:48 staked IWU to a 55-52 lead and the Titans took a 57-55 lead into the locker room at the half.
The 57 points was the highest first-half output for IWU this season, topping the previous highs of 52 against both WashU and Westminster.
What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan faces No. 12-ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 6 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, Dec. 29, in the second game of the Cal Lutheran Classic. The Pointers are 6-2 heading into a late Friday game against Cal Lutheran.
